Primary teachers at odds with govt over single directorate

The government and the Primary Teachers Federation (PTF) are on the warpath over the creation of the Directorate of School Education.

While the PTF has given a call for a protest in Shimla tomorrow to oppose the creation of one directorate for school education, the government has warned its office-bearers of disciplinary action if they went ahead with the protest.

Secretary (Education) Rakesh Kanwar has directed the federation to take back the protest call and “desist from indulging in any demonstration or agitation, failing which a suitable disciplinary action will be initiated against you along with all protesting teachers”.

The federation has given a notice for the protest to oppose the government’s decision to create the Directorate of School Education, which will deal with all matters pertaining pre-primary to Class XII classes. Earlier, there was a Directorate of Elementary Education to deal with primary and upper-primary classes. “The Directorate of School education has been created without consultation with the stakeholders, and it will affect the standard of education,” said Jagdish Sharma, president of the PTF. He added that the proposed protest would not be taken back.

As per the orders, creating a single Directorate for School Education was a policy decision taken by the government keeping in mind the best interests of the students and the teachers and the education system. “The department and the government have time and again demonstrated its commitment to addressing the legitimate demands of teachers through the established administrative and consultative channels. It had communicated clearly that the unification of the directorates will not adversely affect promotions or the existing posts,” the order read. Sharma, however, claimed that the promotional avenues of the teachers would be affected if the structure of elementary education was altered.

The order stated that the call for an unwarranted protest would not only be detrimental to the interests of students but would also tarnish the image of the government and the institution. “Overall, the protest call seems to have been given with an ulterior motive to coerce or blackmail the government, which is a grave misconduct and liable for disciplinary action,” the order read.

Promotion avenues may be affected

• The Primary Teachers Federation has given a call for a protest in Shimla on Saturday to oppose the creation of a single directorate for school education
• The government has warned the federation office-bearers of disciplinary action if they went ahead with the protest
• The Directorate of School education has been created without consultation with the stakeholders, and it will affect the standard of education, says Jagdish Sharma, president of the Primary Teachers Federation
• Sharma claims that the promotional avenues of the teachers will be hit if the elementary education structure is altered